City will make their way to West Yorkshire to face play-off chasing Huddersfield Town in midweek as the Imps seek to continue their now record-breaking unbeaten run, writes Kyle Fox.
Huddersfield remain in the play-off places on goal difference after the weekend, sitting sixth despite Stevenage’s win lifting them into fifth. Several sides, including Reading, Wycombe, Plymouth and Luton, are within touching distance on 37 games, while Stockport have two games in hand and are level on goal difference.
Huddersfield have become a very different team under head coach Liam Manning compared to how they looked under Lee Grant earlier in the season. Under Grant, they were the top scorers in the division, whereas under Manning they have conceded the second-fewest league goals during his tenure and have become one of the lower-scoring sides over the same period.
Manning’s side have scored in 17 of their 18 home league games, the only exception a 0-0 with Burton, and have netted in each of their last 13 at home while going unbeaten in the last 11. They rank fifth for home form with 11 wins, five draws and two defeats, both coming consecutively in October against Stockport, where Bojan Radulovic grabbed a late consolation, and Bolton, who struck in the 93rd and 95th minutes to win.
Huddersfield Town Form
After three impressive wins in a row following his appointment as head coach – against Bradford, Luton and Peterborough – Liam Manning’s side have since won only twice, beating Rotherham and Barnsley, both at home. The other results during that period have been two draws (Blackpool at home and Port Vale away) and three defeats (away to Stevenage, Doncaster and Wigan), with five goals scored and six conceded. During this run, they were also knocked out of the EFL Trophy at the quarter-final stage after losing on penalties at home to Doncaster Rovers following a 1–1 draw in normal time.
Despite a recent dip in scoring, Huddersfield still rank highly across attacking metrics, sitting fourth for goals per match (1.5), fifth for shots on target (4.5), sixth for big chances (83), seventh for expected goals (51.3) and second for expected goal difference (13.8). Defensively, they are fourth for clean sheets, eighth for goals conceded per game (1.2) and third for expected goals conceded. Despite that attacking output, their top scorer remains Leo Castledine with ten, despite not playing since 4 January, while Bojan Radulovic is three behind but level on 12 goal contributions after adding five assists.
It becomes even more surprising when considering the amount of money Huddersfield have spent on strikers recently. Alfie May, Dion Charles, Bojan Radulovic and Joe Taylor – who is currently performing well on loan at Wigan – have all been recruited, while Bobby Wales and Ryan Hardie have also arrived on loan until the end of the season. Aside from Radulovic, however, none of those players have scored more than five league goals this season.
Team News
Michael Skubala briefly discussed the current injury situation for the Imps in his pre-match press conference on Monday, with little having changed since his previous update. Adam Jackson is still working hard in the gym but remains “quite a bit of time away” from returning. January signing Josh Honohan is yet to feature for the Imps due to injury but is now only a couple of weeks away from being available.
Freddie Draper is in a similar situation; however, the difference is that the head coach has mentioned on several occasions that the striker’s injury remains somewhat unclear, with no confirmed diagnosis at this stage- an unsettling update that casts doubt over whether or not he will feature again before the end of the campaign.
In his interview with club media, Liam Manning stated that his side are in a similar position regarding injuries compared to their most recent fixture away at Port Vale. However, when speaking to We Are Terriers, he confirmed that Alfie May is back in contention for the game on Tuesday evening, which is a huge boost for Huddersfield. Both Bojan Radulovic and Joe Low have been sidelined since the end of January, while fellow key central defender Radinio Balker was forced off with an injury against Rotherham earlier this month.
Lynden Gooch has not featured since mid-February, nor has Marcus McGuane while Dion Charles has not played since 28 February. Meanwhile, Jack Whatmough returned to the matchday squad for the first time since early September on Saturday.
Predicted Huddersfield XI
Nicholls, Roughan, Feeney, Wallace, Mumba, Ledson, Humphreys, Sorensen, May, Harness, Hardie.
Previous Meetings
These two sides have already met twice this season, with both matches coming within the space of a month. Huddersfield travelled to Lincoln in December and knocked the Imps out of the EFL Trophy. It came at a time when Lincoln were nearing the end of a difficult run of results and saw the hosts name a heavily rotated side. Lincoln never really gained a foothold in the match, James Collins suffered a serious ACL injury, and Huddersfield delivered a professional performance to secure a deserved victory.
On New Year’s Day, the Terriers returned to Sincil Bank, this time to face a revitalised Imps side following several impressive victories. Lincoln were the better team for much of the game but failed to take their chances. Although they conceded first, the equaliser arrived just eight minutes later.
Prior to that, Lincoln defeated Huddersfield at home 1-0 in May 2025 thanks to a terrific defensive display. Their most recent visit to the Accu Stadium saw the Imps take a 2–0 lead in the first half before coming under heavy pressure from the hosts, who eventually managed to level the score. Lincoln’s previous visit there before that encounter was the famous EFL Cup triumph in 2019.
Prediction
Huddersfield 1–1 Lincoln
I truly do not see HTFC gaining any points this evening.
They have been diabolical in every department, and considering the shambles of a display at bottom club Port Vale all I can say is God help them at home to the Top club at home.
They are worse now under Manning than under any of the previous 3 or 4 men in the hotseat, and I know it is early days, but the seat must be getting a little warmer under Manning after every abject display and bad result.
NO I truly believe that they are looking at another season and bryond in League one.
Sorry Liam. I wasn’t impressed by your appointment, and your tactics and results have confirmed my doubts.
You are not good enough for this club, and some of the players are the same as some supporters have voiced, NOT FIT TO WEAR THE SHIRT.